NOAA collaboration with veterans group will advance science, search for military remains

July 25 (UPI) -- Federal weather experts and veterans officials have inked an unusual agreement to share data and scientific information that will benefit two prominent agencies, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Thursday.

NOAA and the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency will embark on a project that will allow them to collaborate on oceanic exploration, NOAA said, and will honor U.S. military lost at sea while advancing scientific ocean discovery.

"NOAA is excited to strengthen our collaboration with the agency responsible for locating, recovering and identifying the remains of unaccounted-for U.S. soldiers, sailors and other personnel from past maritime conflicts," Steven Thur, Ph.D., NOAA assistant administrator for Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, said in a statement referring to DPAA. "Sharing ocean data and collaborating on projects will help our agencies honor courageous military personnel lost at sea defending our nation and at the same time, enable scientists to better understand our ocean."

The NOAA release said the two agencies will collaborate in several key areas, which include sharing personnel, data, strategies and technology on joint expeditions. The DPAA will be leaning on NOAA's technology and expertise to further its mission.

"NOAA's expertise is world renowned, and we are excited about this partnership and our collective commitment to keep our nation's promise to provide the fullest possible accounting for those still missing from past conflicts," Fern Sumpter Winbush, DPAA's Principal Deputy Director, said in the NOAA announcement. "Our agencies will learn from one another as we stretch the limits of technology to search for those still missing since World War II, and as we provide answers to their families."

NOAA and DPAA have worked jointly together before, including most recently in a 2023 search for a B-25 bomber as part of the Seascape Alaska expedition.